CDC Report to Congress on HPV Prevention

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Department of Health and Human Services (January, 2004)

This report describes key aspects of the epidemiology of genital HPV infection and its transmission, and summarizes the best strategies to prevent infections with genital HPV as well as the HPV-associated diseases of genital warts and cervical cancer.

Genital infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is very common in sexually active men and women and can sometimes have serious health consequences. About 20 million Americans are currently infected, and about 5.5 million people become newly infected each year. The virus can infect the genital skin and the linings of the vagina, cervix, rectum, and urethra. Most infections cause no clinical problems and go away on their own without treatment. Some infections lead to genital warts in men and women, and abnormal Papanicolaou (Pap) tests in women. Treatments are directed to abnormal cells associated with HPV rather than the virus itself; currently there is no curative treatment for HPV infection…